Clients often come to counselors to change their lives in some way,
such as to become more assertive.  As likely, clients seek counseling as
a result of some change, prehaps a death or different working conditions.
Clients ofren find themselves in the midsyt of some change they do not 
understand or over which they have little control.  In its most general
form, counseling provides a context for such change.  How to evplain any 
change, how to assess its direction or to predictg irs effects, and how 
to understand the meaning any change may have for the client are questions
the effective counselor must ask.
     The counselor relies on the concepts of human development to assess 
the client's level of functioning and uses different developmental theories
as lenses through which to view the client.  The professional counselor 
appreciates that people are different but users knowledge of developmental 
theory to understand these differences within the context of a universal 
human process.
     Because so much of their work involves making decisions related to
human development, counselors need to understand the assumptions upon which 
such decisions are made.  Counselors need to understand all developmental 
theories and how these theories are applied to counseling to be effective.